We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Iseul Kim a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Iseul, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

It was when I was around 13 years old. I started playing the piano when I was 3 and I took a break from it for about 5 years and when I was dealing with some difficult things I listened to music. It was the only moment that was peaceful for me at that time, it was the only thing that was soothing me and was my escape from horrible things I had to encounter. Eventually I decided to become a musician thinking this is the only that can truly understand me and heal me but it was difficult to actually start taking the path. It took a few more years for me to start taking lessons again and I had to drop out of high school. This was the only thing I wanted and that made me feel alive, and still now this is the only thing I want to continue doing in my life.

Iseul, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Iseul Kim and I am a composer, pianist, and singer from South Korea living in NYC. My music is mainly inspired by different cultures and all my traveling experiences. I am a traveler and I have been to many countries and have written music after traveling. I am a leader of three different bands: Iseul Kim trio, Liberosis, and Iseul Kim’s Two Voices.
I have released albums and my most recent release was Iseul Kim’s Two Voices -Evolving which was released last May. The music of Iseul Kim’s Two Voices includes Korean music to contemporary classical music, and I composed most of the tracks during Covid 19.
I have toured in Europe recently and I toured in South America and Japan as well. But, besides touring I take a long trim once every two years which is about for one or two months. My kind of trip is not really fancy, I travel with my backpack and a lot of times I stay in a hostel by myself. There are many places I have been in the world but I still want to explore more and get to know different cultures and meet new people. Traveling alone has been my medicine and it has been the biggest inspiration for me also. My band Liberosis was formed after my trip to Buenos Aires and I composed three tunes for Argentinian Malbec and the tunes were performed by Liberosis and released in 2018, that was my first album.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There are some stories of mine to tell the world that not that many people experienced. I know there are people out there suffering because of the same problem I had and I want to give them hope. I want to be a good example for them. I have had a very difficult childhood and music changed my life. I want to give the same thing to people.

Another thing is to be able to bring many Korean musicians to the world. There are so many great music and artists in Korea that people don’t know of and many of them played in my albums. I get amazed by them and I have such a huge respect for them so I feel almost obligated to bring the musicians to bigger stages. I want people to know them and see them perform and realize there is more music than K-pop in Korea.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Artists play important roles in society and realizing this itself was a huge reward for me. Anything that artists experience can become their works and we don’t know what kind of influence we are giving it to the world. Artists are people who make this world bearable even though sometimes the world can be a tough place. Realizing that my art had an influence on someone’s life was rewarding which makes me keep creating new music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iseulmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iseul.music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iseul.music/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iseulmusic6241/